Precious few women's college
basketball players have meant as much to their team over the last four years
than Maryland's Alyssa Thomas.

The reward for the former
high school All-American from Central Dauphin, who is a shy and selfless
servant by nature, is an extremely bright spotlight on the sport's biggest
stage.

A three-time collegiate
All-American, including twice being selected as one of only five players to
make the first team, Thomas is one of the biggest names in Nashville for the
NCAA women's Final Four.

"It feels great to be here with our team and it feels amazing to be able to bring (Thomas) to the Final Four. If we wouldn't have been able to do that, I think personally I would have felt regrets as a coach not being able to get her here," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "She's a phenomenal person, even a better family when you talk about her parents.

"And she deserves every single moment of this."

You can't turn on ESPN and
watch any of its women's college basketball coverage of the Final Four without
hearing her name when Maryland comes up.

Thomas is only the third
District 3 basketball player, male or female, to appear in the NCAA Final Four
in the last 25 years.

The 6-2 senior forward, who
is the all-time leading scorer in Central Dauphin and Maryland history, is the
lone player with central Pennsylvania roots to make it this far who is a
bona-fide superstar.

More than any other team in
Nashville, as Thomas goes so goes Maryland. There are more healthy and
complimentary parts around her this season, but the Terrapins' success still rests
on her broad shoulders.

And this silent assassin, who
is known as Baby Bron-Bron because her game resembles that of the NBA's LeBron
James, has met these unusually lofty expectations on a nightly basis.

"When you have a great player
like Alyssa Thomas, who just really continues to lead them in so many areas,"
Notre Dame head coach Muffett McGraw said, "They are a tough match up."

What separates Thomas from
the other great players is her diversity, completeness and overall strength.
She was blessed with athleticism, but has worked hard to become a physical
specimen overall as an athlete.

Thomas is a nightmare
match-up for opponents because she can play any position on the floor, and is
just as athletic as the best player on any team and physically has no equal.

Simply put, she's a
basketball beast who averages 19.1 points, 11 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game —
all team highs — with 28 double-doubles in 34 games this season.

As Thomas' star power has
risen each season, the three-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the
Year's personality hasn't drifted one inch.

She's still not comfortable
being the center of attention. Thomas will take over a game if that's what she
has to do, but doesn't hesitate to spread around the credit when it is over.

Getting Thomas to take sole
credit for anything is impossible. She's selfless, almost to a fault, but it's
also what makes her such a complete player on the floor.

Winning always brings
happiness and a sense of accomplishment. But that's not what separates Thomas
from the rest of the pack.

Hidden underneath the surface
of this kind and gentle soul is a competitive fire that burns white hot. It's
in stark contrast to her personality, but it's easy to spot this fierce
competitiveness during the course of any 40-minute game.

"I think the most special
thing about Alyssa, when you talk about everything that's been written and
everything that we've seen, the higher the stakes she elevates her game," Frese said.

"And I think the thing that
separates her is her ability to elevate everybody else on our team around her."